Norman Jewison's Moonstruck

[Hal2001]

Moonstruck (1987)

This is a tale of old loves, new loves, and just love in general. At one point in the film, a character asks why is it that men chase after women. One man answers that it must be nerves, she tells him she thinks it's because men fear death. When she asks that same question to another character, he answers with the old biblical story of how God created women from one of Adam's ribs, therefore to be complete, men feel compelled to be with a woman. However, the finding of the right woman (or man) is the hard part.

At an Italian restaurant, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello) proposes to Loretta Castorini (Cher), his longtime girlfriend. She accepts, but first, Johnny must fly to Sicily to be at his dying mother's bedside. Before he leaves, he asks Loretta to call his brother, Ronny (Nicholas Cage), to invite him to the wedding. There is some hostility between the two brothers because Ronny blames Johnny for an accident in which he lost his left hand, so they have not spoken in five years. When Loretta shows up to meet Ronny, they get to know each other, which leads Loretta to question her engagement to Johnny as a new romance blooms.

"Moonstruck" is mainly about whether or not the characters have found the right person to be with. There's the main story with Loretta and Ronny, but there's also two side stories; one involving Loretta's father, Cosmo (Vicent Gardenia), as he dates another woman, all the while his wife somehow knows about it (this is never really explained, but we can just say that it's probably women's intuition). The other involves Loretta's mother, Rose (Olympia Dukakis), as she joins another man for dinner one night.

The difference between these two side stories is the knowledge of having chosen the right person. After Rose confronts him about his relationship with the other woman, Cosmo tells us that he thinks his life is built on nothing, but quickly realizes that Rose has been the right one all along. During Rose's evening with another man, she has to explain to him that she is married, while rejecting his desire to come inside with her. She knows that she has had the right person all along.

As for the main story of Loretta and Ronny, the romance seemed a little too random at first. They have been discussing their lives with each other for a little while, when all of a sudden Ronnie turns over the table in front of them and kisses her. It is quickly returned, leading them to retire to the bedroom. It did seem random, until you think about the fact that they are both wounded people who have been longing for someone else, but settling for what they have. Loretta had been previously married, but her husband was killed in an accident where he was hit by a bus. Ronnie not only has his physical wound with his left hand, but also the emotional wound of being so distant from his brother for the past five years.

Loretta was going to settle for Johnny. When Rose asks her if she loves him, she says no, which Rose is happy about because she says the ones you love will drive you crazy. Loretta tells her that she does at least like him, but it doesn't sound like she's absolutely wild about him from the way she reacted to his marriage proposal. Ronny has been baking bread in an oven for a restaurant for a long time and has never really aspired to anything else, merely settling for being alone.

For as long as I can remember, this movie has been known as "that movie Cher won an Oscar for." It was good to see that she deserved it. She brought a good amount of strength and emotion to the role of Loretta, which could have easily been played over-the-top by someone else. Not only that, but her performance is also comical in a sometimes light, but also dark way. She and Johnny discuss the presumed death of his mother like it's something they are waiting for to pass, while her sudden jump into the relationship with Ronnie plays up the lighter side of humor.

Then there's Nicholas Cage, who gives what is perhaps his best performance to date. If there was ever a performance that he should have gotten an Oscar for, this should have been it, but shockingly, he wasn't even nominated. He plays the character as someone who's been so complacent with his life that when a woman walks into it, his world is turned upside down. It is shocking to learn that this man, who sweats away his days in front of an oven, is also an opera connoisseur. He is someone we think we can judge right away, but by the end of the film, he has shown us that he is nothing like what we expect.

There is an extraordinary scene near the end of the film that is brilliant in the way that it builds up anticipation. It starts with Loretta and Rose having a conversation, when Rose suddenly says that Johnny will be there any minute. The scene continues to build as other characters show up: Ronny, Cosmo, and other family members. By the time Johnny shows up, the kitchen is filled with people, who, like the audience, are waiting to see what will happen.

In times where relationships feel like they are being used merely as plot devices and diversions, it's good to see a film where the romance actually means something to the people involved, which makes it so much easier for the audience to care about what happens to them. When these characters finally get that sense of being complete, or rediscover it, we know they have found the right person. 3.5/4 stars.